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Tulle and rhinestones may be the stuff of ballet recitals and high school prom dresses, but that doesn't mean that you can't turn them into modern decorations for your home, wedding or party. Tulle drapes well, and can be hung along the wall, a window or an entryway for an elegant, flowing party decoration. Its semi-stiff quality also makes it ideal for shaping rounded, gathered decorations, like balls or pompoms. You can then decorate the tulle with rhinestones for festive embellishment.

Embellished Tulle Balls

1

Wrap the tulle around the width of the cardboard, creating a 6 inch loop of tulle with the cardboard as a frame.

2

Remove the board from the middle of the tulle after wrapping it, using care to hold onto the tulle so that the loop remains.

3

Pinch the tulle loop in the middle so that it creates a figure-eight shape. Tie the loop tightly with a short length of ribbon in the center.

4

Cut each end of the figure-eight with the scissors and trim any jagged edges. Fluff the tulle so that it looks full and rounded.

5

Place marks with a piece of chalk on the outward-facing layers of the tulle ball where you want the rhinestones to go. If you wish to create a pattern with different colors of rhinestones, use chalk in the same colors to indicate their placement.

6

Apply a dot of hot glue one-by-one to the back of each rhinestone, then carefully press each rhinestone onto the corresponding chalk mark.

7

Thread a longer length of ribbon or string through the tulle ball's center to hang it or arrange multiple tulle balls on a table or in a vase as a centerpiece.

Draped Tulle Swag

1

Measure the length of wall on which you would like to hang the tulle and divide it into equidistant sections of 2 to 3 feet. Mark the sections with a pencil.

2

Cut a piece of tulle that is longer than this measurement 2 yards to ensure that you will have enough material for draping.

3

Lay the long piece of tulle flat and fold it over once.

4

Pin the knot at end of the tulle to the wall with a push pin where you want the decoration to begin.

5

Drape the tulle so that it falls in a loose U-shape between the first two pencil marks, then pin the tulle to the wall at the second pencil mark. Repeat with each pencil mark until the length of the wall has been covered. Cut off the extra tulle.

6

Glue rhinestones to ribbon bows with hot glue gun to decorate them. You will need one ribbon bow per push pin.

7

Glue the embellished bows onto each push pin with a hot glue gun.

8

Glue rhinestones to draped tulle for further embellishment if desired.

Things You Will Need

Long length of tulle, 24 inches wide

Flat push pins

Ribbon bows

Measuring tape

Pencil

6-inch-wide piece of flexible cardboard

Scissors

Ribbon

2 1/2-yards tulle, 4- to 6-inches wide

Flatback rhinestones

Hot glue

Hot glue gun

Tailor's chalk

Tips

As an alternative to hanging a tulle swag on the wall, if you can install drapery hooks on your ceiling, drape tulle from the middle of your ceiling to the walls for a festive canopy look.

If you wish to make tulle balls of different sizes, simply use a smaller or larger piece of cardboard as the frame referred to in Steps 1 and 2.

You can also sew beads or rhinestones with holes in them to the tulle, rather than gluing them, for a more polished and more secure look. Choose thread that matches the color of the tulle.

For an extra-festive look, glue flatback rhinestones onto both sides of one or two wide and long (20 to 30 inches) ribbons, then thread the ribbons through the center of the tulle balls, or from the knots of a tulle swag so that they hang down like streamers.

Arrange tulle balls into a garland by threading a long length of sturdy string through each tulle balls